Yup, he’s getting old. The 34-year-old superstar was lifted from Saturday’s game in the ninth inning for the same reason. It doesn’t sound all that serious and he could return to the lineup Monday. Rodriguez is in a bit of a rut at the plate, batting just .258 this year with a 778 OPS and 15 RBI through 84 at-bats. Ramiro Pena started at third base on Sunday against the White Sox.

Before today, A-Rod had started all of the Yankees’ 22 games. He’s a little over a year removed from hip surgery that limited him to 124 starts last year. The guy hasn’t played more than 140 games since 2007.

Yesterday the Mets announced that lefty Jason Vargas sustained a non-displaced fracture of the hamate bone in his right hand as the result of a comebacker during a spring training start. This morning they announced that Vargas will have surgery, which should cause him to miss the first week or so of the season.

Vargas will have the surgery tomorrow. Given that it’s on his non-throwing hand, he won’t miss much time — just a week or so of action, with another few days to get back up to speed afterward. He actually threw a bullpen session this morning. The issue is that he can’t catch a ball right now.

Vargas, 35, signed a two-year, $16 million pact with the Mets last month. With him missing a couple of starts, the Mets should break camp with both Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler in the rotation. The two had been fighting for the final spot.